Product Description

Several hundred journalists contribute to any day's edition of the Guardian, and they make mistakes, but whether online or on paper the Guardian wants the words they use to work as hard as they can, which means the language chosen must be clean, contemporary and consistent. The Guardian Stylebook offers the general reader access to that wealth of expertise, and turns grammatical errors, and the hundreds of spelling mistakes that are the inevitable consequence of printing millions of words a week, into lessons to benefit anyone who puts pen to paper or keystrokes to screen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #427991 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Review
"'Wise and thoughtful... just what all journalists need.' Joan Bakewell; 'Valuably insists on the writing of good English... It's a very good idea. It might sell like that other punctuation book.' Tom Paulin"

About the Author
David Marsh is an assistant editor of the Guardian, which he joined from the Financial Times in 1996. Before that he edited regional weekly papers and spent 10 years at the Independent. He was educated at Sheffield University and University College London, where he excelled at spelling. When not fretting about grammar, he sings in the Guardian choir. He is married with three sons. Nikki Marshall joined the Guardian as a subeditor in 1998 after spells at the Independent and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, and training as a reporter in her homeland, Australia. In her current role as revise editor she checks stories and headlines for the paper's news pages, scrutinising upwards of 20,000 words each shift in a nightly battle between pragmatism and pedantry.

Customer Reviews

Strangely Brilliant
While it sounds dry and obvious to say that this is the guide to grammar and word usage for the newspaper The Guardian, that is what this is.

However, the result is far far more compelling and enjoyable than the description. This book is like a mad cross between the 'Grammar is important' ethos of Eats Shoots and Leaves and the random fun of Schott's Miscellany and is better than either.

While I could continue to describe the contents of the book, citing my favourite entries, whatever I say is going to sound boring. Trust me, if you enjoy language you will enjoy this book a lot (not alot).

Proper deal
For a foreigner or an English stududent, in order to better your skills, I recomend to use this book. It is a good, and at some points funny, way to deep inside the Enlish language. In addition, I will personally start the university in Manchester, and I am originally from Spain. That could be a disadvantage but not for me nor my interests because with this book, I will make my understanding of the language with more accuracy.

Essential. Especially for Daily Mail journalists!
An honest, readable directory of how to write well. The Guardian encourages accurate writing, and gives excellent advice on abbreviations, spelling, punctuation and other necessities. While I have a few issues with The Guardian (why do they insist on calling Bombay 'Mumbai', the local right-wing nationalist name for the city, while continuing to call Myanmar 'Burma'?) but generally, the guide is consistent and sensible.

The Guardian has always encouraged intelligent journalism, and this volume not only contributes to good style, it is also the sort of book you can study for hours.

A great guide. Please Daily Mail journalists, read this. Not only will it make your articles more readable, it will also improve your general knowledge. Then maybe one day, you could get a job with a proper, grown-up newspaper!